In a stunning victory for tenant advocates, Landlord Licensing has passed City Council.
Hundreds of tenants took part in consultations during the summer of 2016 which lead to recommendations passed by close votes on City Committees and City Council. Tenant advocates like the FMTA, Toronto ACORN, ACTO and Rent Logic having been working over 10 years to push for better maintenance standards for tenants and to force negligent landlords to do repairs. This month, City Council approved moving forward with many of those recommendations.
The proposed new regulatory system will provide more resources for maintenance enforcement, increase penalties for bad landlords and benefits for good ones through a Dinesafe-like rating program to separate good buildings from ones that are in a critical need of maintenance.
You can read more about Licensing here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/12/14/city-council-toughens-rules-for-landlords.html